There are various opinions of what outreach should include among churches of all denominations. Often outreach is considered just that, reaching out, or going out to help those less fortunate than ourselves. Outreach can also be evangelistic in nature, including visiting and serving in other countries among people who may not have heard the Good News. Outreach could also include offering events and services that draw people from the surrounding community to the church where they can encounter and get to know their local church community.
Regardless of our opinions about how outreach should manifest, the church’s fundamental understanding of outreach should and must be shaped by God’s own outreach to the world seen, experienced and understood in the Incarnation - God in Christ. Knowing our limitations and need, God in his wisdom and mercy, came to us in the form of a man, Jesus of Nazareth. However, God not only came among us as Savior, but he also invited us to become one with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (John 17:20-23), members incorporate in the Body of Christ. God’s outreach included both going out and inviting in; coming into the world and inviting humanity to become one in God. It is the manifestation of God’s love in the person of Christ Jesus that enables us to grasp at some level the amazing grace of God. And it is
in union with God through Christ Jesus that we enter into eternal life with God and one another.
The Divine approach to outreach encompasses both a going out, and an inviting in; building a bridge, if you will, between the church and the world. Jesus clearly commissioned the church to go into the world (John 20; Matt 28 & Lk 24). And, in addition he emphasized the importance of welcoming the stranger into our midst (the parable of the sheep and the goats Matt 25:31-46, in addition to numerous OT references re God’s concern for the stranger).
Several church members, sensing the need and the call to reach out into our surrounding community, have initiated and grown a program in our midst that provides English as a second language (ESL) classes to people from more than 20 countries. The ESL program, offered each week at St. John the Divine by church volunteers, has grown from a small nucleus of 5-6 people to more than 120 students. The program includes multiple levels of ESL and a supplementary conversation time called Chat & Chew, where students can practice what they’ve learned with English-speaking volunteers from the church. To say that the program has been an amazing success is an understatement. However, that’s not the whole story. Having ESL students in our midst has provided the opportunity for parishioners to share their faith, love their neighbor, and to provide opportunities for our guests to learn about Jesus through Alpha, Jesus and the Bible class and other educational offerings. Recently several individuals participating in the ESL program and their family members committed their lives to the Lord Jesus and were baptized into the Body of Christ. The ESL program is clearly benefiting students in practical terms; however, it is also evident that students’ lives are being blessed and eternally changed by coming to know Jesus. It seems evident that God is blessing the ESL ministry, which is clearly one means of creating a bridge from the church to the world.
To learn more about the ESL classes and how we’re changing lives for God in Christ, email Barbara Foxhall (bafoxhall@gmail.com), Sarah McParland (sarahmcparland@comcast.net) or Jane Boldra (janeboldra@yahoo.com). To become involved with Chat & Chew, email Dawn Rutherford (dawnlrutherford@gmail.com).
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